


A Long Way

by rhaenyx



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-30 08:32:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14492982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhaenyx/pseuds/rhaenyx
Summary: The reader is Catelyn’s twin, tho they don’t look the same so when Rhaegar comes to Riverrun he sees her and is struck by her beauty.





	A Long Way

You were standing still in front of the Castle’s gates, waiting for the arrival of Rhaegar Targaryen. You had heard of his trip to Riverrun two moons ago, and had had enough time to decorate the palace so it was fit for the future King of Westeros. Your mother was thriving: not only was Prince Rhaegar single, but they were also rumours about his loneliness. How convenient, now that he was going through the entire country, in your mother’s words, ‘looking for his future queen’. You didn’t have much hope. Both of your sisters had nice and long auburn hair, and blue eyes. You, on the other hand, had inherited somewhat of an orange or ginger hair, much different from your sisters’ or Edmure’s. You had grey eyes, which you thought were nice until your sister Lysa told you they looked like those of a savage beast, like a wolf, and not a beautiful lady, like hers or Catelyn’s, which were a nice blue like a flowing river. So yes, your hopes of catching the prince’s eye were quite low, to say the least. It’s not something you deeply craved, like Lysa did, but you wouldn’t mind either. They said he was handsome, nice, and intelligent and a good talk. It seemed, in all honestly, everything a woman could ask for in a man. 

The sound of galloping horses brought your mind back to reality. There in the distance came Rhaegar Targaryen and all of his men. Of course he wouldn’t come inside his carriage, but riding his horse. Your mother looked to your side one last time, making sure everything was in order, but your mind soon focused on the prince. The tales you had heard about Rhaegar didn’t do him justice. His silver hair was tied in a braid that fell along his back. When he got off his horse, you had to look upwards to look him in the face, so tall he was. His violet eyes scanned the crowd with a peaceful look. He walked to your father elegantly, and you could only envy how princely he looked compared to your somewhat clumsy steps.

Your father and mother bowed to him. “Prince Rhaegar, it is our biggest honour to receive you in our castle.”

“Lord Tully, I can only be thankful for accepting my request. It’s been long since I visited Riverrun.” His eyes darted to you and your siblings. “And it’s been long since I last saw your children. If I’m not wrong this is Edmure –he stopped in front of your brother, who bowed– Catelyn, –your sister repeated your brother’s action– and you must be Y/N.” He stopped in front of you and smiled at you nicely. You nodded and bowed too. “Yes, I remember you, Lady Y/N. I remember your eyes. They are truly fascinating.” Your mouth opened agape, and Catelyn hit you on the ribs and gave you a pointed look. You managed to say a stuttering apology before being interrupted by your little sister.

“And I’m Lysa, my prince.” Lysa performed an exaggerated curtsy, for which you had to stiffen a laugh, but the prince’s courteous stance didn’t falter. 

Your father then guided him to his bedchambers. You wanted to accompany him, but your father only allowed Edmure to go with them. Disappointed, you followed your mother to another part of the castle, where she ordered you to change into another dress.

“Why?! This one is my favourite, that’s why I wore it!”

She looked at you sternly. “Don’t raise your voice. And the prince seemed to have noticed you. Therefore, you can’t wear the same dress twice in front of him.”

You pursed your lips, but did as you were told. Your mother had made you doubt. Would he really notice a different dress? You wore a new one anyway. It was a dark green. You had learnt which colours made your hair look less eye-catching, and the dark green colour looked great with your grey eyes. 

You went to the Great Hall. You quietly sat between Edmure and Catelyn. You couldn’t be more thankful to your twin sister, who always managed to put herself between you and Lysa.

“So, are you aware that you caught the prince’s eye?”

“Excuse me?”

You looked at your sister, but she simply pointed to the place in front of you. You looked at the empty chair in front of you, but before you had the time to process, the doors open. You stood up to receive Rhaegar, but before walking he started looking for something. Your sister coughed next to you, and Rhaegar finally found you. Your unbelieving eyes turned to your sister once again. What was she doing? But again, you didn’t have time to think or do much, as Rhaegar was already taking his sit in front of you. It was hard to believe. You didn’t want to be seen by everybody while Rhaegar tried to court you, even if that was what your sister and Rhaegar himself were trying to do. Rhaegar saw our displeased face, and during dinner, not even once did he try to make you talk to him.

By the end of the dinner, everyone was already half drunk. Since that big fight you had with your mother about not wanting to dance, everyone in Riverrun knew not to ask you to dance. But Rhaegar didn’t, so when the song Catelyn and Rhaegar were dancing to came to an end, you escaped very swiftly from the Great Hall. Unbeknownst to you, one of Rhaegar’s men had kept an eye on you, and when you left, he was quick to tell Rhaegar.

You walked at a fast pace to your room, but not fast enough.

“Lady Y/N, wait!”

You stopped, and with a heavy sighed, you turned to face Rhaegar. “Your highness, do you need something?”

“You owed me a dance.”

You frowned. “I didn’t promise anything.”

He smiled sweetly at you. He never seemed to get angry. “I hoped you’d have noticed by now that I intend to court you. But letting you know it’s being harder than I expected.”

You gasped out of surprise. You had realised how he was trying to catch your attention, but you didn’t expect him to say it so openly. 

“Fine.”

“Fine?” He seemed confused at your answer.

“Yes. I give you permission to court me.”

You turned around and almost ran to your room. Your voice hadn’t trembled, but you didn’t want him to see your blushing cheeks.

On the other hand, you also missed Rhaegar’s growing smile, and an uncommon animated pace back to his chambers. 

***

“Are you not coming with us?”

“Even if I were allowed, I wouldn’t want to. You’re going hunting. I don’t want to see how you kill the animals.”

He seemed slightly surprised, but if he was, he commented nothing on it. He grabbed your hand and kissed its back. Your breath got caught on your throat. You heard a squeal, your mother’s, and some grunting, from Lysa. You bid your farewells to Rhaegar, and when you turned back, aside from Lysa’s anger and your mother’s overjoyed face, you also saw Catelyn’s pleased smile.

You started walking away, but Catelyn caught up with you. “Where are you going?”

“Reading, next to the river. The maester lent me a new book.”

You sister’s disapproving glance followed you to the distance, but she had told you numerous times about how dangerous it was to delve into the forest alone. But nothing had happened before, it wouldn’t happen now.

Three hours later, you sat at the edge of the river, reading a book. You had always enjoyed reading, but not the books about knights and princesses. For that, you preferred the songs. When it came to books, you really enjoyed reading about nature, a side effect of growing in the Riverlands, you guessed. You liked to read in the limit between the river and the forest, so you could look around and find what you read around you. You were reading about fish, and you were looking so focused at the river, you didn’t notice somebody approaching from behind. 

“My lady.”

You jumped on your place, and the book would have fallen to the water if you hadn’t been fast enough. Rhaegar was wearing the same armour he had worn to go riding in the morning with his men, your father, Edmure and their men. 

“You’re back from the trip, I see.”

He nodded and sat next to you. You were still somewhat nervous around him, even if you tried to act normally around him. “Yes, it was rather interesting. The landscape in these lands is very pleasant.”

“Did you hunt many animals?”

“None.” You looked at him surprised, and he laughed quietly. “If the Lady of the Riverlands doesn’t want me to hunt on her lands, I won’t.” You were rendered speechless. How could he really be so considerate? You could hardly believe someone like that existed.

“There are more important Lords in these lands who wouldn’t have minded. Or who would have called me stupid for voicing my thought, or simply for having them.” 

“Thankfully, I’m not one of those Lords.” He smiled swiftly at you. You nodded, and started playing nervously with the borders of the book. 

“What were you reading?”

“It’s a book about fish.” You felt quite stupid saying it, but if he found it funny, he didn’t laugh.

“It sounds interesting, but I like dragons more.”

You laughed. Of course he would say that. When you looked at him again, you noticed how he had started to get closer to you. Instinctively and out of fear, you pulled back. You had never kissed a man before, and you weren’t sure about what to do. You were sure a man like Rhaegar had done it many times before.

“If you’re not ready, I would never force you…”

His kindness almost brought you to tears, and you were quick to interrupt him. “No, it’s fine. It was just… unexpected. I’ve never kissed anyone before.” You said the last part with a low voice.

“Don’t worry. I’ll help you.” Ignoring your stirring stomach, you leaned forward. Your warm breaths mixing, you were looking straight to his purple eyes. You remembered you were supposed to close your eyes. When you did, Rhaegar captured your lips with his own. It was a chaste kiss, only your lips finding his own, yet it sent a bolt through your entire body. You had never felt anything like that. When you separated, you couldn’t stop your mind from traveling away from reality: Would it still feel like this when you married, if you actually end up getting married? Would it get any better? You couldn’t wait to find out.


End file.
